I'm considering adding a GFS humbucker to the neck of my nashville tele, I'm looking for that rockabilly (blue suede shoes) sound. Which GFS humbucker would work best? Nashville? Liverpool? Dream 180? My bridge pup is a CS Nocaster. The middle pup is the standard tex mex strat pup. Or if you have another recommendation.
which GFS humbucker for rockabilly?
- Thread starter pgrace245
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photoweborama
Friend of Leo's
I'd use a Nashville..
Here's a link: http://store.guitarfetish.com/
I have a set of Nashvilles and love 'em, for what it's worth. Very Filtertronish, bright and twangy. Nice pickups.
That said, tell Jay what guitar you're working with and what tone you seek and he'll recommend something...
I have a set of Nashvilles and love 'em, for what it's worth. Very Filtertronish, bright and twangy. Nice pickups.
That said, tell Jay what guitar you're working with and what tone you seek and he'll recommend something...
MikeC123
TDPRI Member
Contact Jay using...
...info@guitarfetish.com
...info@guitarfetish.com
Ok the word from Jay was to go with the retrotron Memphis series humbucker
here's the link http://store.guitarfetish.com/meal2ritovij.html there is also a sound clip on there. Now I have to find a pickguard that is black Nashville style with the neck humbucker route!
here's the link http://store.guitarfetish.com/meal2ritovij.html there is also a sound clip on there. Now I have to find a pickguard that is black Nashville style with the neck humbucker route!
RockinCarl
Tele-Afflicted
Well for a '50's Carl Perkins tone, you should really get a P-90, or a humbucker sized P-90. Even if you were referring to Scotty Moore/Elvis' version of Blue Suede Shoes, P-90's all the way. 
Carl - Do you know if you get the true p90 sound out of a tele like you would a gibson/archtop? Has anyone tried the GFS Memphis humucker (or other GFS ones)? Are all p90's the long soap bar pups? I don't like the looks of a long soap bar pup but if that's the true rockabilly pup then I better get used to it.
woody
TDPRI Member
I put the Memphis pups in my ES137. I was looking for more twang/sparkle for country stuff. I like 'em.
If you're looking for the sound of Carl Perkins on the original recording of Blue Suede Shoes, thats the bridge pickup – not the neck pickup.
There's really no such thing as the quintessential rockabilly tone. Different players used different guitars and got different tones...they all worked well. It was rare for rockabilly guitarists in the 50s to use the neck pickup. Scotty Moore used it on the earliest Elvis recording...mostly the ones before they added drums. Carl Perkins' tone was mostly in the way he played. He later switched to Fenders and sounded basically the same. As far as I'm concerned, stock Fender pickup work as well as anything to get a great rockabilly sound.
There's really no such thing as the quintessential rockabilly tone. Different players used different guitars and got different tones...they all worked well. It was rare for rockabilly guitarists in the 50s to use the neck pickup. Scotty Moore used it on the earliest Elvis recording...mostly the ones before they added drums. Carl Perkins' tone was mostly in the way he played. He later switched to Fenders and sounded basically the same. As far as I'm concerned, stock Fender pickup work as well as anything to get a great rockabilly sound.
David - Maybe that's what I'm hearing that I like - being the bridge pickup. I've got a GFS 50's and a Nocaster so that should cut the cheese. Do you know if they used the neck/bridge pups together to get that sound. To me it doesn't sound as bright as a clean tele bridge pup.
RockinCarl
Tele-Afflicted
Oh yeah- I forgot we were talking neck pickups... not bridge. Well if you want the Carl Perkins "Honey Don't" tone you need a P-90 neck pickup. A tele bridge pickup and a P-90 sound great together. Carl's tone was really something- he had a hard pick attack which really gave everything a different sound, and I'm pretty sure he used LIGHT picks. Hope this made sence.
Well if you want the Carl Perkins "Honey Don't" tone you need a P-90 neck pickup. A tele bridge pickup and a P-90 sound great together. Carl's tone was really something- he had a hard pick attack which really gave everything a different sound, and I'm pretty sure he used LIGHT picks. Hope this made sence.It's not the honey dont sound it's definitely the Blue Suede Shoes sound. Light picks add an interesting component too. Never tried that. Did he turn down the tone control? The sound in my head isn't a clean tele bridge sound. I did see in the later years he was using some type of strat style guitar...
P-90s are more mid-rangey than Telecaster pickups. If you REALLY want to duplicate Carl Perkins tone, you'd want to use a Gibson with P-90s (Carl Perkins played a Les Paul with P-90s on those original Sun recordings). He rarely used the neck and bridge pickups in combination...usually it was just the bridge pickup. There are a few exceptions...I think on Right String Wrong YoYo he's using both pickups together.
But how close do you really need to get to his tone? One thing I've found after playing guitar for years is that you can never really capture the tone on most recordings, even with the same equipment.
But how close do you really need to get to his tone? One thing I've found after playing guitar for years is that you can never really capture the tone on most recordings, even with the same equipment.
RockinCarl
Tele-Afflicted
I read articles that said Carl liked to play with knobs to get different tones, so who knows what the actual settings were on those recordings. Every Sun recording was using P-90's- Honey Don't was a '53 Les Paul, Blue Suede Shoes was a '55 Les Paul, and Matchbox was a Gibson Switchmaster with three P-90's that he bought after the sucess of Blue Suede Shoes. After the Sun years, when he went on to Columbia records, he was using Fender guitars, most of the time it was a Strat, but he was also seen playing Jazzmasters, Teles, and I'm pretty sure even a Jaguar after they were introduced. But in the '60s, '70s, and early '80's he was also known to play a lot of other guitars, including Peavey T-60's and T-27's. The rumor is he played over 1000 guitars on stage and in the studio during his life time, and I believe it! Around '86 he started using an '85 G&L Broadcaster, which is my favorite Carl Perkins tone/era. He used that as his main guitar up until he passed away in '98.
Sorry, when it comes to Carl Perkins, I get carried away with information.....
Anyways, it seems like for the tones you want, you may want to route it out for a P-90 bridge pickup, to get somewhere close to the tone you're looking to get.
Sorry, when it comes to Carl Perkins, I get carried away with information.....
Anyways, it seems like for the tones you want, you may want to route it out for a P-90 bridge pickup, to get somewhere close to the tone you're looking to get.
woody
TDPRI Member
Heck, I don't know. I never try to cop anybody's specific sound; I just go for what sounds good in the situation. But I think the Memphis sound kinda Ricish/Gretschish not Gibson humbuckerish, whatever that means:?: More sparkle, chime, and clarity. I'm sure with the right amp and settings and dynamics, any of the pups mentioned in this thread will get you close enough.
Here' a good example of what p90's sound like in a hollowbody:
http://www.gibson.com/Lesson/Lesson...=1&SkillSetID=0&StyleID=1&TypeID=0&ArtistID=0
Good luck.
